Meditation Practices Brought To You By

Dr. Jerome Freedman

I began meditating many years ago while in graduate school at the University of Chicago.

I studied with some well-known and less well-known teachers over the years.

My first root teachers were Swami Rama of the Himalayas and his chief disciple, Dr. Arya, now Swami Veda Bharati.

From Swami Rama, I learned mantra meditation, which is repeating a sound or phrase to yourself as you meditate.

From Dr. Arya, I learned the basic practices of how to enter into meditation and deep relaxation. I still use these today and teach them to my students.

I am totally grateful for all I’ve learned from Swami Rama and Swami Veda Bharati!

One of my first classes was the Silva Mind Control course and then I found somehow and studied with Jose Silva’s teacher, Father Eli.

Father Eli, my second root teacher, was a mysterious man trained in Western wisdom traditions. He taught me so much and I am eternally grateful.

A real critical breakthrough in my life came when I spent two summers with Father Eli in the Ozark mountains in Arkansas. He not only taught me how to do guided meditation. He also trained me to teach it to other people. I have been doing this ever since!

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

My next root teacher was Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (aka Osho). I spent four months in India on retreat at his ashram and learned to do chaotic meditation. It was a very intense experience.

In spite of what you have read about Osho, he was a wonderful teacher and I am greatly indebted to him for just about everything in my life.

You see, Mala, my wife, also spent a lot of time with him and we are together because we shared a common love for him when we began living together.

Through my connection with Bhagwan, I then met Gabrielle Roth who helped me continue dancing away my problems. We put on an event in honor of Bhagwan for 250 people. Then she moved to New York.

By 1985, I had taken the three refuges of Buddhism and called myself a Buddhist. In search of a teacher, I connected with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, whom I had heard about while being a half-minded social activist against the war in Vietnam.

My meeting with him was very auspicious and I have since become a member of his Order of Interbeing. I have been to Plum Village (his home in southern France) twice and was honored to have breakfast with him in his room.

Six Root Teachers – Drawing by Jerome Freedman

Thay, as he is known by his followers, continues to inspire me every day and I am totally grateful. I hope to be able to contribute significant sums of money to his goal to accomplish an ethical society with mindful consumption.

In 1990, I became a Certified Teacher of the Enneagram in the Oral Tradition with Helen Palmer. It was at one of the final retreats in the certification program that one of my fellow students mentioned tennis as a way to practice conscious conduct. A light went off in my brain and I resumed playing tennis after a hiatus of 20+ years.

Now my practice consists of morning meditation every day and mindful tennis four to five times a week. In addition, I co-facilitate Mindfulness in Healing at the Pine Street Clinic in San Anselmo on Wednesday nights. I started the group during the summer solstice of 2009 to inspire people to use meditation practices and mindfulness to take charge of their lives and healing experience.

Other themes and purposes are implied within the framework of the articles on meditation practices. In many cases, insights into the nature of reality are provided for your to ponder and decide for yourself if they are true for you as well.

Your participation is highly encouraged through comments on the posts and sharing through social media.